New York's Hot 97 Under Fire Again

A coalition of hip-hop artists have joined with New York City Council members for a resolution against offensive comments made on NYC radio station Hot 97 and to call for a hearing looking into payola practices at NYC stations.

The R.E.A.C.Hip-Hop Coalition will join New York City Council members Yvette Clarke, John Liu and Leroy Comire to introduce a resolution condemning remarks made by Hot 97 morning personality Miss Jones. Clarke also plans to introduce a resolution calling for the Council's Committee for Consumer Affairs to hold a hearing on the practice of payola at New York City's radio stations.

R.E.A.C.Hip-Hop (formerly known as The Coalition Against Hot 97),founded by DJ Kuttin Kandi, along with M1 of dead prez, Immortal Technique and Afrika Bambataa, was initially called to action last year when Hot 97 aired what has become known as the "Tsunami Song." More recently, the organization has stepped up after Transit Workers Union Local 100 labor leader Roger Toussaint was called a "dumb coconut" on the air. Both incidents occurred under the management of program director John Dimmick.

"We can no longer tolerate these attacks against members of our communities,"Rosa Clemente, spokesperson for R.E.A.C.Hip-Hop said via statement. "This is the second set of racially offensive remarks under the watch of program director John Dimmick and we will no longer let corporate interests and the need for ratings to ruin the culture of Hip-Hop. We are calling for the removal of Mr. John Dimmick and Ms. Tarsha Jones (Miss Jones) immediately and also demand that parent company of Hot 97 Emmis Communications CEO Jeff Smulyan and President Rick Cummings, meet with members of the R.E.A.C.Hip-Hop coalition and members of the New York City Council to face the music and their radio listeners. We applaud Councilmember's Yvette Clarke's legislative initiatives and are happy to join forces."

Both groups have extended an open invitation to the Hip-Hop community at large, inviting them to the steps of City Hall Wednesday February 15, 2006 at 10:30 am.